Jaguars defense hounded by 'almost' label

Tuesday

Trudging through the mud and peering through the rain, the Jaguars defense held Carolina quarterback Cam Newton in check and almost made one game-changing play after another.

There were almost interceptions, almost sacks and at least one almost sack-fumble.

Monday they set to work figuring out how to take the almost away from their performance.

"The thing is, those opportunities, you never know when they're going to come, sometimes they can be very limited," linebacker Paul Posluszny said. "We gotta make sure when they do come, we can take advantage of them. The main thing is just having an awareness of where the ball's at, where you are on the field, where your help is and know when you can take a chance to make a big play."

This weekend the Jaguars defense will face what will be one of their toughest challenges all season. The New Orleans Saints offense averages 437.7 yards per game and 338 passing yards pre game. Both numbers rank second in the NFL. It will be the kind of game with a premium on the types of game-changing defensive plays that slipped away from the otherwise stout Jaguars unit.

"It's becoming a throwing league," Jaguars cornerback Drew Coleman said. "You have to make them pay for it."

Unquestionably the Jaguars defense has improved greatly this season.

The unit that finished 28th in the league in 2010 has shown immediate returns on its free agency moves and improvement from returning players.

Jacksonville ranks fourth in the NFL after three games, giving up an average of 280 yards per game. The Jaguars' defense is the only one in the NFL that hasn't given up 300 yards in a game this season.

Last weekend, it faced a quarterback coming off back-to-back 400-yard games and stifled him even before monsoon-like conditions aided their cause.

The Jaguars defense ranks fifth against the run, has only allowed a 33 percent conversion rate on third downs and is the best run defense in the AFC.

Turnovers are the one statistical category in which the Jaguars lag. They've only forced one fumble, but didn't recover it, and have made three interceptions. They've had several opportunities for more.

"It ain't nothing you can work on; you just have to pick them," said Coleman, who dropped an interception in the first quarter. "It goes back to watching the ball in. Of course it was wet and rainy and things, but just got to look the ball in. You've got to make those plays if you want to be a great defense in this league."

In the first half of Sunday's game alone, the Jaguars almost had four interceptions - three that defensive players dropped and another that a Jaguars defensive back was in position to get. On one hand, they were signs that the Jaguars defense was where they were supposed to be and in position to make big plays.

On the other hand, they were missed chances.

"Really missed three or four sacks and a minimum of four or five interception opportunities that for whatever reason didn't come up with the ball, so that was unfortunate," Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio said. "Some opportunities to really make game-changing kind of plays change the outlook of the game altogether."

It became a point of emphasis Monday as the Jaguars reviewed Sunday's game. Not just the missed interceptions, but also missed sacks. On one play, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton held the ball away from his body, providing an opportunity for a sack-fumble.

"I think it's just all about finishing," defensive tackle Tyson Alualu said. "I think we start off pretty good getting to the quarterback. Just knowing even if you gotta hit the ball, to get it out. ... We try to put it in our own hands, get the ball back to the offense."

Sunday's was a low-scoring game. As the Jaguars offense found its way, its defense only allowed one touchdown, making for a low-scoring game that at times had baseball-like scores.

"We know going into this what type of offense we have," Posluszny said. "We're going to run the football, we're going to chew up a lot of time of possession, which is great for us. We've gotta be ready defensively to win some low-scoring games."

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